Apple Cancels The Release Of An Electric Car

Apple has canceled its plan to release an electric car, a  secret product that has been in work almost a decade.The car, which Apple spent billions of dollars researching, had been intended as a rival to Tesla’s E.V.s, which include autonomous driving features.

Bloomberg News which initially reported the news stated on Tuesday that  several members of the group would be shifted to different roles, including in Apple’s artificial intelligence (AI) division.

“If it is true, Apple will put more focus on GenAI and that should give investors more optimism about the company’s efforts and ability to compete at a platform level on AI,” said Ben Bajarin, chief executive of consulting firm Creative Strategies.

Unlike tech giants like Alphabet and Microsoft which have capitalized on AI with early adoption. Apple has been relatively reserved in its approach to the technology.

The company declined to provide any comment on the matter.

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Though Apple had not unveiled its car to consumers, the product had for many years been one of Silicon Valley’s worst-kept secrets because it was being tested on public roads. The cancellation is a rare move by Apple, which typically doesn’t shelve such public and high-profile projects.

The company has struggled in recent years to find new avenues for growth as its all-important iPhone has saturated the market and people are upgrading their phones less frequently than they used to.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has publicly hinted that Apple was interested in entering the car space. The company had also been testing hundreds of vehicle equipped with autonomous driving technology in public for many years. The car, internally code-named Titan and Project 172, was a challenging product to develop, as parts of the division were shuttered plans were scrapped and restarted, and dozens of workers were laid off along the way.

High interest rates aim at curbing inflation has damped consumer sentiment, resulting in a slowdown in demand for typically high-priced electric vehicle. Prompting the industry to cut jobs and reduce production.

Several major automakers, including EV market leader Tesla have scaled back on investments, with some shifting plans to focus on hybrids vehicles instead of solely battery-powered ones.